The Government will oppose this Bill for a range of reasons. It would do little to achieve its objective and it would recommit us to an approach that has failed repeatedly over the past 100 years. Most importantly, it would distract from urgent work that is essential before any honest and constructive debate about our constitutional future can be held. This is the work that falls to everyone here and not just the Gov…
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
688,766
words spoken in the chamber
686,628 as a minister, 2,138 as a TD
197
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 6,546 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 11 |
| January 2025 | 6 |
| February 2025 | 438 |
| March 2025 | 518 |
| April 2025 | 317 |
| May 2025 | 426 |
| June 2025 | 424 |
| July 2025 | 344 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 146 |
| October 2025 | 375 |
| November 2025 | 291 |
| December 2025 | 281 |
| January 2026 | 326 |
| February 2026 | 529 |
| March 2026 | 229 |
| April 2026 | 385 |
| May 2026 | 474 |
| June 2026 | 425 |
| July 2026 | 181 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 198 |
| October 2026 | 222 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 23 January 2025 to now
I dtús báire, admhaím go bhfuil deacrachtaí ann agus go bhfuil teaghlaigh faoi bhrú maidir leis an gcostas maireachtála, go háirithe de dheasca an chogaidh san Iaráin. Is léir go raibh drochthionchar ag an gcogadh sin ar phraghsanna. Tá sé sin soiléir. Tá an-chuid déanta ag an Rialtas, áfach, chun an brú sin a ísliú agus chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine. Faoi dheireadh na bliana, beidh suas le €1 bi…
The energy companies were quite quick to put up the prices at the time of the issues in the commodity markets arising from the war between the US and Iran. We will have to see comparable decreases as commodity prices reduce and as this feeds into the Irish market. We have had significant reduction in terms of energy prices but they need to go much further than they have. We have nominally the highest EU electricity p…
First of all, the pain felt by survivors and families connected to Bessborough is profound. It is enduring. Neither I nor the rest of the Government has ever minimised that reality. I would argue that the last Government did more on these issues than any previous Government for a long time. It was not just about performance. I think it is unfair of the Deputy to put that insinuation across in the manner that she has,…
Excavation without evidence of location at the moment is not lawful nor feasible. I will come back in again.
In my view, the local authority should have purchased the site compulsorily a number of years ago. It chose not to. Governments, by definition, do not just go in and purchase sites compulsorily. There are issues regarding how to how to protect and treat sites, without necessarily having to purchase it compulsorily.
The history is a bit more complex than was articulated by the Deputy. It is much more so. It is not so…
Is it not a wonderful thing to say that we should interfere with An Coimisiún Pleanála? Just intervene.
Sorry, but it is a very simple thing to say we should intervene in the planning process-----
-----without any consequence, without even a question of-----
The Government will await the outcome of the planning appeal next week, and then we will see how to respond to that decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
The scale of demand for special education places and our response to it over the past six years have been exceptional. I think that balance and perspective are required here. Thousands of children are being provided for every year and additional places are being found.
The Deputy knows herself that when the portal was opened earlier last year, which was a good thing, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE,…
There are about 30,000 students now who are supported across special schools and special classes. The Deputy is correct that we allocated an additional €646 million to education. That is helping in terms of special education provision. Opening the portal early last year led to far more applications than perhaps was anticipated by the Department. The number of applications almost doubled, even though last year we deli…
There are 26,000 SNAs. The number has increased dramatically over the last five to six years.
Provision is being provided and resources are being allocated.
Ireland will assume the Presidency of the European Union. The three fundamental pillars of our Presidency will be competitiveness, values and security.
On competitiveness, we are looking for a capital markets union. We will try to advance that agenda to enable Irish small- and medium-sized companies to get access to a far greater degree of venture capital in Europe. We hope we can establish - Commissioner Michael Mc…
The world has become much more complex but the Deputy ignores that all the time. There are parts of Europe that feel under existential threat. They do not believe the US will be there for them-----
-----when the time comes and therefore they are-----
-----enhancing their military expenditure and defence expenditure. It is because of what happened in terms of Russia's behaviour.
First of all, we will uphold Irish military neutrality. There is no issue with Irish military neutrality. There has been no attempt to undermine Irish military neutrality by Europe or by anybody else, for that matter, and the Deputy should stop scaremongering in respect of it. We are not joining NATO anytime soon. We are not militarily aligned and we have no intention of joining any military group or bloc. That is Ir…
Sorry?
I am sorry but you do not get to define it.
You do not get to define it. If you had your way you would not have an army at all. You said that to me one day here during question time when I asked you straight out if you believed we should have a military at all.
Okay. I am glad you maybe accept we might need some sort of military or defence capability. In any event, there is not unanimity across Europe - there is disagreement on Palestine - but Europe remains the biggest donor to Palestine globally. It is the biggest donor to Palestinians in terms of-----
-----supporting Palestinians across the board from the PA to the ordinary Palestinians in terms of the vital essential services they require.
The Government is very conscious of this issue. We are accelerating the delivery of safe accommodation and significantly strengthening capacity nationwide. There are currently about 241 safe accommodation places, with 181 domestic violence refuge units and 60 safe home units. At the end of the year, it is envisaged that there will be 193 domestic violence refuge units completed and 94 safe homes, bringing total safe …